Man who ‘squirted acid’ at boy, 3, claims he was ‘forced with gun’

A man who squirted acid on a toddler has told a court he was ‘forced’ to carry out the shop attack after being threatened with a ‘gun’.
The youngster, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, suffered serious injuries to his face and arm at the Home Bargains store in Worcester on July 21 last year.
A 40-year-old man, the boy’s father, has denied a charge of conspiring to spray sulphuric acid on the boy between June 1 and July 22, 2018, with intent to harm.

On Tuesday, Cech told a trial jury it was he shown on the shop’s CCTV, squirting the boy (Picture: PA)He stands accused of plotting the attack alongside a woman and five other men, including Adam Cech.
On Tuesday, Cech told a trial jury it was he shown on the shop’s CCTV, squirting the boy.
Pizza Hut burglar tried to wash away his blood with Pepsi after cutting himselfHowever, he denied knowing at the time it was acid.
The 27-year-old, of Birmingham, has pleaded not guilty to being a part of the conspiracy, alongside co-accused Jan Dudi, 25, of Birmingham and Norbert Pulko, 22, of London.
Defendants; Martina Badiova, 22, of Handsworth, Jabar Paktia, 42, of Wolverhampton, and Saied Hussini, of London, have also denied the same charge.
Jurors at Worcester Crown Court previously heard how the injured child screamed ‘I hurt’, over and over again, after being struck, at about 2.16pm.
The Crown has alleged the father ‘enlisted others’ to attack the youngster in a bid to win a custody battle, after his wife walked out on him with the children, in 2016.

The alleged moment Adam Cech threw acid over a three year old boy (Picture: PA)

Norbert Pulko, Adam Cech and Jan Dudi walking into Home Bargains (Picture: PA)It is also alleged an ‘aborted’ attempt was carried out on July 13, eight days before the shop attack.
Giving evidence for the first time, Cech claimed the bottle containing acid had been ‘forced’ into his hand by Pulko, moments before he entered the store.
Lorry driver in tears as cyclist forgives him in court for putting him in comaAs he started his testimony, Cech’s barrister Andrew Copeland showed the jury a BB gun, which his client alleged Pulko had with him as he drove Cech and Dudi to Home Bargains.
Mr Copeland told jurors the ‘gun’ had later been recovered in Pulko’s bedroom by police.
Video of the attack was shown in court, and as it played, Mr Copeland asked Cech to identify the man in the footage squirting acid on the boy.
Cech replied: ‘It’s me. I was squirting something onto the little boy.’
Asked what he was carrying in his left hand, he replied: ‘It was like a white bottle.’
Cech, speaking through a Slovak interpreter, added: ‘I was forced to do it. By Norbert Pulko.’

Adam Cech (R) and Norbert Pulko (L) in a newsagents following the attack (Picture: SWNS)He said: ‘When we stopped at the car park where Home Bargains was, he pulled out a gun from his clothing, and put it underneath the seat.’
The father-of-two added: ‘He [Pulko] got out the car, and told us to come with him – I needed the toilet, as well.
NHS stockpiling body bags to prepare for no-deal Brexit reveals Tory minister‘We were close to the shop and he was trying to give me this bottle, putting it in my hand.
‘He gave it to me, forcing it into my hand and told me what to do.
‘He told me he’d show me the little boy and that then I should squirt the drops onto the boy, and that it will not hurt him.’
He added: ‘He told me that if I did not do it, I should remember what he’s got in the car, and that he knows where I live.’
When Mr Copeland asked what Pulko told him was in the bottle, Cech replied: ‘He told me they were only drops.
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‘It was a small bottle, it looked like eye drops or ear drops, something like that.’
Asked if he knew it was acid, Cech said: ‘If I had known the contents was some kind of acid or chemical, I wouldn’t have even taken it in my hand.’
Cech also claimed he had not gone to the police about the gun, because he was ‘scared’ of Pulko.
The trial continues.